Time's Arrow

One of the interesting discoveries I made in analyzing hundreds of cases of Life Response -- i.e. instances of sudden good fortune -- is that Time works quite differently than our normal conception. For example, let's say that I change my attitude towards someone from hostility to goodwill. When I then open my mailbox, I discover a check for thousands of dollars from a customer who owed me that sum for years. It is simply life responding to my change in consciousness, which put me in alignment with that individual’s remittance. It turns out that long ago I had a similar experience, and when I asked my spiritual teacher Sri Karmayogi if the check would have been mailed days before in the past had I not changed my attitude here in the present, he replied that it would not have. This indicated that the present is indeed affecting the past!

Our normal view is that there are three divisions of Time -- past, present, and future. But from the spiritual position, there is only one Time that is undivided. If this is so, then events today may be affecting circumstance in the past, just as events in the future are determining the present. For example, if someone decides not to shift his attitude to the positive in the future, it might cause me, who was about to pay, to suddenly not pay in the present. Again, it is the future effecting the present, just as the present can affect the past. In fact, any period can affect any other.

Interestingly, it is only when we rise in consciousness beyond Mind proper, to intuition, and higher still to a “Truth Consciousness” that we can discern these true movements of Time. From these planes beyond the ordinary functionings and logic of mind, we can begin to see the arrow of time moving in any and all directions. If this is true, if time has these astonishing qualities, then the very foundation of our belief system must come into question, including views of history and science, not to mention Reality itself.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this vastly expanded view of time is that we have the power to become its Master. Not by travelling in a Time Machine or using other forms of technology as presented in science fiction, but through shifts in consciousness within. In fact, science itself has begun to understand the extraordinary ancient Indian principle that Time depends on the consciousness of the observer. For example, most of us have noticed how fast time seems to pass when we have a stimulating conversation. Similarly, science tells us that if one approaches the speed of light, time will slow down or speed up depending on the relative position of the observer. And yet the ancient Indian insight is far more profound, as it suggests that if we elevate our consciousness in a given moment or circumstance, any and all limitations of time can be overcome. If e.g. I change a wanting attitude to the positive, and, as a result, attract an opportunity of a lifetime, then I have drawn a future possibility and made it real in the present. What would have taken years to accomplish has instead occurred in an instant. Or to put it another way, the burden of time has been completely eliminated.

It turns out that this inner power to attract something to us thereby cancelling time has also been verified by recent discoveries of science. Its theory of Non-local Connections indicates that if one particle of an atom moves, it can affect another particle of the same atom, even if it is on the other side of the universe. Non-local connection not only overcomes the normally perceived limitations of cause and effect, but allows for instantaneousness between objects no matter the distance. Yet another discovery of science -- proven by the latest mathematical calculations measuring and defining the cosmos -- is that the outcome of any event is dependent on the person observing it! Thus, my observation of an event can affect a different outcome for it than if another person observes it, indicating that consciousness determines reality. This is a startling scientific discovery that confounds every individual who contemplates its meaning.

Sri Aurobindo takes this several steps further and says that we can discover an inner dimension within our being, a soul space, from which we are able to overcome every aspect of time in the outer world. At the point that we touch our evolving soul within, we move into a realm where past, present, and future become one single, undifferentiated point. Thus, when we act from that space, life immediately reacts to our intentions. Moving to this Psychic Being within is a step beyond a change in consciousness, such as a shift in attitude. Rather it is a movement into the center of consciousness. There we come in touch with universal and transcendent powers, where gives us access to the greatest time controlling and affecting power in the outer world. From these deepest depths, I am able to change the conditions of life -- past, present and future -- in an instant.

Time’s Arrow thus moves in every and all dimensions to the degree we express our consciousness. It reaches its apex and greatest capacity when we discover our evolving Soul within. From there we become masters of the outer life, as any intention originating there is instantly fulfilled.

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